A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings (like display, sleep, etc.) that manages how your PC uses power. The power plans you can use depend on the kind of PC you have.

PCs that support InstantGo

InstantGo allows your PC to wake up instantly from sleep with your applications and data up to date. PCs that support InstantGo include all Windows RT 8.1 and certain Windows 8.1 PCs. To find out if your PC supports this, check the info that came with your PC or go to the manufacturer's website.

The only power plan that Windows provides for PCs with InstantGo is Balanced. This plan offers full performance when you need it and saves power when you don't. You can customise this further to meet your needs or create your own plan (using Balanced as a starting point). Your PC manufacturer might also provide additional power plans.

Open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Power options in the search box, and tapping or clicking Power options.

Open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Power options in the search box, and tapping or clicking Power options.

If the plan you want to delete is selected, select another plan, then tap or click Change plan settings next to it.

Restrictions imposed by your system admin, or your PC's hardware configuration might limit which settings you can change. For example, if your PC is part of a network at an organisation – such as a school or business – your system admin might have turned off or even removed certain settings. In that case, ask your administrator for help.

If you're connected to a PC using Remote Desktop Connection, you must be signed in as an administrator on the remote PC to change its power settings.

Fast startup is turned in by default in Windows and is a setting that helps your PC start up faster after shutdown. Windows does this by saving system info to a file upon shutdown so when you start your PC again, Windows uses that system info to resume your PC instead of restarting it.

Notes

The fast start-up setting doesn’t apply to Restart. You need to shut down and then start your PC again for fast start-up to take effect.

All other PCs

Here are answers to some common questions about power plans for all other PCs.

Balanced. Offers full performance when you need it and saves power when you don't. This is the best power plan for most people.

Power saver. Saves power by reducing PC performance and screen brightness. If you're using a laptop, this plan can help you get the most from a single battery charge.

High performance. Maximises screen brightness and might increase PC performance. This plan uses a lot more energy, so your laptop battery won't last as long between charges.

Note

High performance doesn't appear on the battery meter by default. To turn on High performance, open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the top-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, then clicking Search), entering Power Options in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, then tapping or clicking Power Options. Tap or click Show additional plans, then choose High performance.

If these plans don't meet your needs, you can create your own using one of these plans as a starting point. Your PC manufacturer might also provide additional power plans.

If you're using a laptop, click the battery icon
in the notification area, at the far right of the taskbar, then choose one of the power plans (Balanced or Power saver) that appear on the battery meter by default. Your PC manufacturer might provide additional plans and might have customised the battery meter.

Battery meter showing power plans

If you aren't using a laptop, or if you want to use a power plan that isn't on the battery meter, do the following:

Open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Power options in the search box, and tapping or clicking Power options.

Choose the one you want to use.

If you can't see the power plan that you want, tap or click Show additional plans.

Open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Power options in the search box, and tapping or clicking Power options.

Windows chooses the two power plans that appear on the meter, but you can change them.

To change the power plans that appear on the battery meter

Open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Power options in the search box, and tapping or clicking Power options.

Do one of the following:

Tap or click Additional plans, and then select a plan.

Create a new power plan. For more info, see the "Can I create a power plan?" question in this topic.

By default, the power plan that you select or create becomes the active plan and it then appears on the battery meter.

The only power plans that you can delete are the ones you create and those provided by the PC manufacturer. You can't delete the Balanced, Power saver or High performance plans, or the plan that you're using.

Also, you might not have the required permissions to delete a plan because your system administrator may have restricted access to it.

Open Power Options by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering Power options in the search box, and tapping or clicking Power options.

If the plan you want to delete is selected, select another plan, then tap or click Change plan settings next to it.

Restrictions imposed by your system admin, or your PC's hardware configuration might limit which settings you can change. For example, if your PC is part of a network at an organisation – such as a school or business – your system admin might have turned off or even removed certain settings. In that case, ask your administrator for help.

If you're connected to a PC using Remote Desktop Connection, you must be signed in as an administrator on the remote PC to change its power settings.

Fast startup is turned in by default in Windows and is a setting that helps your PC start up faster after shutdown. Windows does this by saving system info to a file upon shutdown so when you start your PC again, Windows uses that system info to resume your PC instead of restarting it.

Notes

The fast start-up setting doesn’t apply to Restart. You need to shut down and then start your PC again for fast start-up to take effect.

A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manage how your computer uses power. You can use power plans to reduce the amount of power your computer uses, maximize performance, or balance the two. For information about making your laptop battery last longer, see Conserving battery power.

Windows provides the following plans to help you manage your computer's power:

Balanced. Offers full performance when you need it and saves power during periods of inactivity. This is the best power plan for most people.

Power saver. Saves power by reducing system performance and screen brightness. This plan can help laptop users get the most from a single battery charge.

High performance. Maximizes screen brightness and might increase the computer's performance in some circumstances. This plan uses a lot more energy and will reduce the amount of time that a laptop battery lasts between charges.

Note

High performance doesn't appear on the battery meter by default. To turn on High performance, open Power Options by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type power options, and then click Power Options. Under Select a power plan, click Show additional plans, and then click High performance.

If these plans don't suit your needs, you can create your own power plan, using one of these plans as a starting point. For more information, see Change, create, or delete a power plan (scheme). Also, your computer manufacturer might provide additional power plans.

If you're using a laptop, click the battery icon
in the notification area on the taskbar, and then select one of the power plans that appear on the battery meter. By default, the Balanced and Power saver plans appear on the battery meter. Your computer manufacturer might provide additional plans and might customize the battery meter.

Battery meter showing power plans

If you aren't using a laptop, or if you want to use a power plan that isn't on the battery meter, do the following:

Open Power Options by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Security, and then clicking Power Options.

On the Select a power plan page, select a power plan.

If you don't see the power plan that you want to use, click Show additional plans.

The only power plans that you can delete are the plans that you create and any additional plans that are provided by the computer manufacturer. You can't delete the Balanced, Power saver, or High performance plans, or the plan that you're currently using (the active plan). For information about how to delete a power plan, see Change, create, or delete a power plan (scheme)

Another possibility is that you might not have the required user rights to delete a plan because your system administrator has changed the permissions that are associated with the plan.

Your user rights, restrictions imposed by your system administrator or your computer's hardware configuration, might limit which settings you can change. If your computer is part of a network at an organization—such as a school or business—your organization's system administrator might have disabled or even removed certain settings by using Group Policy. If you think that Group Policy is preventing you from changing a setting that you need to change, contact your system administrator.

To change power settings on a computer that you're connected to by using Remote Desktop Connection, you must be logged on as an administrator on the remote computer.

A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your computer uses power. Power plans can help you save energy, maximize system performance, or achieve a balance between the two.

You can change settings for any of your power plans, including the three default plans—Balanced, Power saver, and High performance. The default plans meet most people's computing needs. If these plans don't suit your needs, you can easily create your own plan by using one of the default plans as a starting point.

As long as there are no restrictions imposed by your system administrator, you can change the settings for all of your power plans, including the three default plans (Balanced, Power saver, and High performance), plans provided by the computer manufacturer, and any plans that you create for your own purposes. Your user rights and computer's hardware configuration might limit which settings you can change.

Some of the links in the left pane of Power Options in Control Panel open System Settings. Changes made to system settings are automatically made to all of your power plans. By changing system settings, you can do the following:

Help secure your computer by requiring a password to unlock the computer when it wakes from sleep.

Choose what your computer does when you press the power and sleep buttons on your keyboard or mobile PC frame or, with a mobile PC, when you close the lid. For example, when you press the power button, the computer can either do nothing or it can shut down. If the computer supports sleep and hibernate, pressing the power button can also put the computer into one of these power-saving states.

You can also change the following settings for individual power plans:

Not necessarily. Because hardware configurations vary on different computers, your computer might not support some of the power management settings that are available with this version of Windows. Windows automatically identifies the hardware configuration of your computer and makes available only the settings that you can change.

To learn more about your computer's hardware configuration, check the documentation that came with the computer or go to the manufacturer’s website.

Open Power Options by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Power Options.

In the task pane, click Create a power plan.

On the Create a power plan page, select the plan that is closest to the type of plan that you want to create.

For example, if you want the plan to conserve energy, select the Power saver plan.

In the Plan name box, type a name for the plan, and then click Next.

On the Change settings for the plan page, select the display and sleep settings that you want the computer to use when it's running on battery and when it's plugged in, and then click Create.

If you are using a mobile PC, your plan appears under Plans shown on the battery meter. If you are using a desktop computer, your plan appears under Preferred plans. The default plan that you based your plan on now appears under Additional plans.

Make sure that the power plan that you want the computer to use is selected.

You might also be trying to delete one of the default plans—Balanced, Power saver, or High performance—or the plan that you're currently using (the active plan). The only power plans that you can delete are the plans that you create and any additional plans that are provided by the computer manufacturer.

If your computer is part of a network at an organization—such as a school, government agency, or business—your organization's system administrator might have disabled or even removed certain settings by using Group Policy. If you think that Group Policy is preventing you from changing a setting that you need to access, contact your system administrator.

Another possibility is that you might not have the required user rights to change power settings because your system administrator has changed the permissions that are associated with these settings.

Note

To change power settings on a computer that you're connected to remotely (for example, using Remote Desktop Connection), you must be logged on as an administrator on the remote computer.

Yes. If you are running the Power saver plan, Windows sometimes turns off transparency automatically. If you don't want this to happen, you can switch to the Balanced power plan.
To change an existing power plan:

Open Power Options by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Power Options.

On the Select a power plan page, select Balanced from the list of power plans.